Ignoring the Negatives of what you hear in Corporate Optometry. Think bigger to what a career in corporate optometry can bring.

Not all corporate optometry companies or even brands within a company are the same. Find the right fit for you whether it is employed, part time, fill in, sublease, franchises , or even selling to a private equity.

“Every obstacle is an opportunity waiting to reveal itself.”

Ask any ‘bright-eyed’ optometry student in their final year where they will want to work after graduating, nearly all of them will say anywhere but corporate practice. If you are even slightly familiar with the field, you will be well aware of how ‘corporate optometry’ is quite a notorious field. It suffers from a bad reputation in not just optometry schools, but well beyond.

‘There are too many patients’

‘Work hours are endless. There are no holidays in the job’

‘It doesn’t pay you well’

‘This isn’t full scope optometry’ and so on.

These are just a few of the many reasons you might hear from several ODs against corporate optometry, and why they become a hindrance for those pursuing it.

Although some of these are true while some exaggerated and some even false, no matter what the case, it is also true that obstacles do not block your path, they are your path.

So, if you are a soon-to-be OD, here are a few tips on how you can turn the ‘obstacles’ of perception in corporate optometry, into opportunities.

Change your perception of obstacles

What you believe now to be ‘problems’ might not necessarily be so. It is simply absurd to be so prejudiced against the field that you don’t even consider it once.

Long work hours, low reimbursement plans, routine care or whatever other factor proves problematic for someone may not apply to you. Several ODs who have been working in this field are not working because of lack of other options. They love what they do. Who knows you might end up loving it too?

Focus on your strengths, not weaknesses

No matter how skilled you may consider yourself, the truth is, we all have the same degrees and many corporate opticals practice full scope optometry. Corporate optometry has a lot of foot traffic. Seeing a diverse patient base can strengthen your clinical skills.

Focus on your determination to learn and become better than who you were yesterday and develop your skills meanwhile. Corporate optometry jobs are everywhere, be it Walmart, Costco, VisionWorks, etc., so taking a sublease or even doing fill in work will help you to continue to learn and expand your horizons.

As for those who say corporate optometry doesn’t allow you to widen your talent, it’s not really true. Corporate optometry allows you to be anything that you want. You can be an employee, a leaseholder or a franchise, a contractor or even an associate OD, depending on your goals. Moreover, if that’s not enough, you can privately pursue specialization in whichever area you are interested in.

Think bigger

Whatever you might be thinking, think bigger.

Many people consider medical professions because of the nobility that comes with the territory – the drive to serve humanity. So, being an optometrist is no exception either, especially a Corporate OD!

Even if you want to be a self-employed instead, you can consider starting off in corporate optometry too. It pays you well and is sure to give you experience and lessons that will prove beneficial to you in the future. This is because being a corporate OD allows you to interact with a diverse group of patients and learn the business aspects of optometry. Thus, you see and treat many different ocular problems and ultimately, learn learn a lot from the optical side of the business.

So, the truth about corporate optometry is that opportunities are everywhere! Obstacles seem to appear when you take your focus off your goals. So clean those spectacles and meet the so-called challenges head-on.

The path will become clear as crystal too. Just the clarity every OD wants!